Today's Family & Kids Activities in Brooklyn-May 5

May 5, 2013
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Parents, don't let your children miss out on the fun! Here are some of today's kids and family activities in Brooklyn, from concerts and museums to decorating cupcakes and gardening! Want to see what's going on next weekend or when you have those few days off? Check out the NY Metro Parents' calendar!

Kerry Gallagher of the Zoo's education department will demonstrate techniques on how to fish, where to fish, what equipment to use, while reviewing the the laws on which types of fish are fair game. Participants should be prepared to set aside three more dates to take full advantage of the program: April 21, May 5, and May 19. Equipment will be provided for the class, but not for participants to keep. The program is free with admission to the Zoo, and starts at 11 am. Fishing takes place at nearby Clove Lake Park. Weather conditions may affect the published dates. 718-442-3174 ext. 24 for more information.

Alone, hungry and on the run, Charlie Chaplin's Tramp character takes refuge in a traveling circus and inadvertently becomes the star of the show. He also falls in love with the bareback rider (Merna Kennedy), whose father, the ringmaster, mistreats her. His efforts to survive and protect her create a slapstick meditation on love, art, comedy and clowning, climaxed by his attempt to walk the tightrope while attacked by monkeys. Directed by Chaplin (1928, 69 min. with music, on the soundtrack, composed by Chaplin.)

This production surrounds kids in a vast multimedia world based on theater. Presented by Spain's Teatro Paraiso Antzerkia and Belgium's Theatre de la Guimbarde, the narrative tells of a man and woman who encounter a cloth stuck in a forest's trees. This object becomes a blank canvas, a "tabula rasa" of sorts, on which videos, shadowplay, illustrations, and drawings are displayed. Through interaction with the audience, and children in particular, wonderful and spontaneous things happen. The program is designed for preschoolers, and who knows what they'll come up with!

Rolie Polie Guacamole brings its high energy, interactive show to the Knitting Factory. Enjoy a mix of funk, rock, and folk music mashed into original tunes about natural living, eating healthy and staying active.

Silhouette artist Andrea Peitsch returns to ArtsCetera to create the ultimate one-of-a-kind gift for the marvelous moms and matriarchs in your life. A five-minute sitting yields a custom, heirloom quality, hand-cut silhouette that will become a family treasure. Perfect for Mother’s Day.

The Painted Cloud classes offer a nurturing, dynamic environment that introduces children to many new techniques and materials, and allows them the freedom to express themselves artistically. unique and creative art projects using a wide array of high quality art materials.

Greenlight offers a weekly singalong/story time event for babies and toddlers each Friday afternoon! Meet in the kids section for 40 minutes of favorite songs and stories for the littlest booklovers, led by Greenlight bookseller Jarrod and his trusty guitar.

Using SketchUp software and images from the museum's archives, budding designers and engineers converge on the Technology Lab for an afternoon of big-city creativity and computer-assisted designs. Limited capacity. Call to register.

In 1955, Orson Welles stripped Herman Melville's sprawling masterpiece to its bones, transforming it into a play within a play. Scripts in hand, the actors of Brave New World Repertory Theater transform their space into the docks of Nantucket, the deck of the Captain Ahab's ship, and the wild and wasteful ocean.

Spend some time outside enjoying nature while helping to keep the Park clean. Families are encouraged to come and take a tour of the Park and its waterways and help keep it tidy along the way. Gloves, garbage bags, and trash grabbers will be provided.

Children age 6 and younger enjoy an indoor playground, rockers, blocks, play panel for theater, rock climbing wall, bouncy castle, musical instruments, and easel boards for drawing. Have fun with many more age appropriate toys that encourage creativity and develop children's imagination.

Children explore the process of making a Torah during this interactive workshop. Uncover the history of 100-year-old scrolls. See and handle unfinished hides for parchment, mix ink, fashion goose-feather quills, and watch the scribe as he practices his "scribal scribble" on a piece of parchment.

Powerplay's play area is an environment that encourages physical and imaginative play. It's indoor play space is a warm embrace for the cold and frosty days. It provides amenities of a local playground in a fun and inviting atmosphere. Parents and caregivers must supervise their child.

Kids have fun, exercise, and enjoy alot of gymnastic-based sensory input. Use our 2,800-square-foot facility to explore, discover and help increase your child's awareness with positive play habits and a fun social environment. The Gym Park also offers a wide range of other programs including gymnastics and physical education for home-schooled children.

Bend and Bloom Yoga offer children's yoga classes. Mondays are for 8-12 year olds. Tuesdays are for 3-5 year olds. Wednesdays are for 6-8 year olds. Kids are allowed to drop in ($18) or register for a series of classes. Family classes for moms and tots are also available.

Saturday Story Time is geared toward kids ages 3 to 8 and their families. Authors and illustrators of picture books often visit us on Saturdays to present their new books, and neighborhood performers sometimes read as well.

These clinics are helpful for moms who need a little reassurance or encouragement with breastfeeding. While many simple issues can be resolved in these helpful group sessions, please be aware that certain more complex breastfeeding issues may require more individualized attention which can be provided in a home visit.

Children love painting with watercolors. Here they can examine the work of master watercolorist John Singer Sargent via a collaboration between the Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of Fine Art, Boston. In all, 93 pieces are on display, exemplifying the beauty and majesty of watercolor art.

Kids, 4 and older, can supercharge a magnetic compass with Magneto, explore optics with Cyclops, learn the forces of flight with Superman, or sling a web with Spidey. It's a new super science adventure every week!

The Big Adventure provides fun, dramatic, exciting, unique, and challenging experiences, making the exhibit great for young minds and bodies. Visitors will have opportunities to choose adventures that appeal to them, identify challenges, solve problems, make decisions, set goals, enhance creativity and gain confidence.

It's hard not to notice the hulking structures of the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Here's an opportunity to tour the Yard and learn about intriguing sites of the 150-year shipbuilding facility, including a Civil-War era dry dock, the 24-acre former Navy hospital campus, and more.

Kids have fun out in nature by playing animal charades, pretending to be a bat trying to catch a moth, or joining in many other fun and active nature games that teaches them about the nature around us. Led by a park naturalist.

Tree house architect Roderick Romero has created a whimsical, inhabitable sculpture using wood from trees felled by Hurricane Sandy. This "tree house" will be part open-air classroom, part viewing point, and part artwork. Created specifically for BBG, it will invite visitors of all ages to experience the Garden in a new way.

Kids can visit examples of stores they might find in some of Brooklyn's ethnic pockets: a Chinese stationary store, a Mexican bakery, a West African import store, to name a few, which are modeled after real Brooklyn businesses. There's also an international grocery store and a replica of the famous L&B Spumoni pizzeria from Bensonhurst.

GUIDES TO OUR REGIONS

There are so many fun things to do in the NYC area, all year 'round! We've picked the top 20 best events for families in each season in the following areas: New York City, Long Island, Westchester County, Rockland County, and Fairfield County, CT.

Wondering if your child is too young to specialize in one sport? Monica Holmes, founder of a youth fitness consulting firm in Harlem, explains what age is best to begin specialization and why your child should try out multiple sports at first.

About Us

NYMetroParents is the parenting division of Davler Media Group and encompasses 9 regional print magazines within the greater NY metro region as well as the website (nymetroparents.com). Following the success of the first NYC parenting resource book, "Big Apple Baby," BIG APPLE PARENT was launched in 1985; it is now the largest publisher of regional parenting content in the United States.